AUGUSTA, Georgia, (Reuters) – Phil Mickelson snatched a one-shot lead in yesterday’s third round of the U.S. Masters with an exhilarating display of shot-making on the back nine at Augusta National.
While Tiger Woods clawed his way back into contention after losing his cool early on, left-hander Mickelson covered 13, 14 and 15 with a stunning eagle-eagle-birdie run to edge one stroke clear at 12 under par.
Britain’s Lee Westwood, co-leader overnight with his good friend Ian Poulter, was alone in second after 13 holes with American veteran Fred Couples a further stroke back at eight under after 16.
World number one Woods, playing his first tournament in nearly five months after his double life was exposed at the end of last year, was seven under with playing partner KJ Choi of South Korea after 14 holes.
Mickelson, Masters champion in 2004 and 2006, treated the Augusta galleries to one of the most spectacular exhibitions of golf ever seen at the year’s opening major. He became only the third player to record successive eagles when he holed out from 139 yards at the par-four 14th, his ball pitching six feet beyond the hole before rolling back down the slope into the cup.
Mickelson, who had knocked in a six-footer to eagle the par-five 13th, raised his arms skywards in disbelief as the crowd packed around the green roared its approval.
Fellow-Americans Dan Pohl, in the third round of the 1982 Masters, and Dustin Johnson, in the fourth round last year, had previously posted back-to-back eagles at Augusta.
AGONISINGLY CLOSE
Mickelson came agonisingly close to a third successive eagle at the par-five 13th, his wedge approach there ending up six inches from the cup to give him a tap-in for birdie.
Woods made a flying start to the third round with long-range birdie putts at the first and third, closing to within a stroke of the lead before losing both momentum and his temper.
He bogeyed the par-three fourth after hitting his tee shot into a greenside bunker and also the sixth, where he three-putted from the bottom tier of the green.
The mounting frustration showed when he swore on the sixth tee and he dropped another shot at the seventh where he pulled his drive into the first cut of rough on the left and cried out: ‘Damn it.”
Woods, watched for the third day in a row by his mother Kultida wearing a floppy white sun hat, birdied the par-five eighth after chipping from just off the green to three feet and knocking in the putt.
Out in level-par 36, the 14-times major winner also bogeyed the 10th, where he three-putted, before recovering with birdies on the par-five holes on the back nine.
Westwood, bidding for his first major title, appeared to have the tournament firmly in his grasp when he briefly forged four strokes clear by rolling in a 15-footer to birdie the 10th.
However, he dropped back into a tie for the lead with the charging Mickelson when after bogeying the par-three 12th where his tee shot ended up a green side bunker.
